Wahid Taysir, the Israeli Arab soldier who shot and killed British pro-Palestinian activist Tom Hundall, has been convicted by an Israeli court and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Hopefully the Palestinians are watching not in glee, but in awe. Hopefully they too, will one day be able to rule in favour of the side they are at war with, in an open and transparent court.
| CASTINA MILITARY BASE, Israel - A military court convicted an Israeli soldier of manslaughter Monday in the killing of a pro-Palestinian British activist in 2003. The defendant, Wahid Taysir, who no longer is in the army, was accused of shooting Tom Hurndall in the head during an army operation in the Gaza Strip in April 2003. |
Drew Forrest from the Mail & Guardian recently wrote that Jewish readers react angrily and play on the anti-Semitism canard when his newspaper claims that Israeli soldiers deliberately target children and innocents.
| Faced with persistent allegations of war crimes, conservative Zionists resort to evasions, many of them strongly reminiscent of Nationalist propaganda under apartheid. One response is simply to block out the unpalatable - like the M&G letter-writer who angrily dismissed a Guardian report that Israeli army snipers were targetting children in Gaza, without evidence or, apparently, independent knowledge. |
Side note: The burden of proof in making such claims lies with the accuser. I don't think that I need to go to the hassle of proving that targeting civilians is not IDF policy.
I expect the MSM to use this incident with gloating relish, proving in their eyes that soldiers do indeed target innocent bystanders. They will no doubt overlook the fact that this man was tried and convicted precisley because the army has rules of engagement aimed at preventing the death of bystanders.
A summary of the ruling can be found here.
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